20.9.04

«opposing the deracination of reason»

since the very first terrifying reports about the siege at the school in beslan, russia just over two weeks ago i've been enraged by the characterisation of the hostage-takers as terrorists. the compact oxford english dictionary defines a terrorist as a person who uses violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. but how about the person who does it while engaged in war. say, a war for independence or against foreign occupation? notice that current attacks in iraq both against nationals and foreigners are being carried out by "militants and insurgents". but palestinians fighting against the israeli military and civilian occupation of their country and chechen forces fighting for the independence of their republic are considered terrorists. and note how the west has barely uttered a word in protest, not even now that putin is following in dubya's steps and pursuing the planning of pre-emptive strikes against chechens and their country. why isn't anybody asserting their right to self-determination as recognised by the UN charter. and never mind that, chechnya is not a break-away republic:

in the 1830s Czar Nicholas I invaded the caucasus, meeting fierce resistance. in 1859 russia conquered and incorporates the region. in 1917, during the russian revolution, dagestan (including chechnya) declared its independence. in 1923 bolshevik troops occupied dagestan and divided region creating the chechen-ingush autonomous soviet socialist republic. in 1944 stalin deported thousands of chechens to siberia and kazakhstan, on suspicion of collaborating with germany. but by 1957 the chechen-ingush republic had been re-established and chechens returned home.

at the 1991 collapse soviet union fourteen regions became independent nations. dzhokhar dudayev was democratically elected president of chechnya, which he declares independent. but russian president boris yeltsin refuses to recognise chechen independence sending in troops which withdraw confronted by armed chechens. russia invaded in 1994 and a bloody war ensued. a year later grozny, the chechen capital is occupied by ten thousand russian troops. the number quickly swells to forty-five thousand. by 1996 and additional five thousand russian troops make it to grozny and before the end of the year there are seventy thousand casualties on both sides! and it only gets worse...

and ever since 11 september 2001, not just israel, but russia and other countries facing serious challenges from muslim peoples living under their rule have been trying and succeeding in re-branding their atrocious use of force as part of the global war on terrorism. and nobody seems to care, much less our mediawhores.

this is what gwynne dyer, one of the most rational commentators around, has to say (mr dyer is a london-based independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries).

About

these pages reveal the secrets or mysteries of a state of mind. thoughts, news, rants, raves, observations, analysis, poetry, lyrics and fun from a free-thinker's perspective.«marching to the beat of a different conundrum.»